Kyle Whittingham Weekly Press Conference: Cal Poly

SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah head football coach Kyle Whittingham held his weekly press conference on Monday with members of the media inside the Spence and Cleone Eccles Football Center.

Selected quotes from Coach Whittingham can be seen below. Click here for the full press conference video.

Opening Statement…

Obviously, a lot of positives to take away from our opening game on Saturday night. A lot of good things offensively. [We] ran the football well, threw it efficiently, converted third downs really well, red zone [was] outstanding, didn't turn the ball over and really never had any lulls in the offense. We only punted one time and, other than that, we scored every time. I think we had 10 possessions, seven touchdowns, a field goal, a punt and end of game. It was very positive, and it was good to see the offense executing the way they did for the full 60 minutes. [The] defense did some really good things as well, played the run tough, played the throw game really well, 50% completion percentage, only gave up 220 total yards or thereabouts. We played really well on third down on defense. The success, in my opinion, of the entire game started at the line of scrimmage. We did a good job controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and that was the biggest difference. Definitely had some things we can do better and things to work on. Tackling in the secondary was not as crisp as it needs to be, not as clean as it needs to be. Some special teams errors, missed the first extra point, dropped a kickoff return and got pinned deep in our territory and mishit a few kickoffs. There are things to work on there as well. No shortage of things for us to address this week, but again, a good start to the season. We just have to continue to work hard and focus from week to week, take them one at a time.

On Smith Snowden and Lander Barton's usage on offense going forward…

We plan on using them each and every week. How much is exactly as you mentioned, what the matchup is and what personnel groups they're in. Coach Beck typically goes into a game with four, five or six personnel groups and just depending on how many of those groups they are involved in, but I thought it was really good production from those guys. Smith had five catches for 50 or 60 yards and some carries as well. Lander caught the touchdown pass and blocked really well, too. Lander, I'm convinced, can be one of the best tight ends in the country if that was his full-time position. He's a big plus and Bennee did exactly what we hoped. He didn't have a lot of production on paper, but he did a great job of taking the top off the coverage and stretching the defense and opened some things up for other guys.

On the wide receiver room and establishing one player as the No. 1 wide receiver…

I think we need to get Tobias a little more involved. He's a weapon for us. You saw him catch a deep ball and then draw a [pass interference] on another deep ball and that's really his thing. He seems to have a good knack for getting free up the field. He also has a big catch radius, so we have to try to get him more involved. Otherwise, it's just if you want more time, you want more production, play better in practice. That's how it is. You have to play your way into that. We're not just going to try to feature somebody if they haven't earned it. That's not to say that they're not doing some good things in practice, but we feel like we've got the right guys on the field. JJ Buchanan is part receiver. He's kind of a hybrid and then Smith Snowden is a receiver. He doesn't sit in that room full time, but, moving forward, it would be nice to be able to have more production or emphasis placed on that, but again, you can't just hand out playing time and production. You have to earn it in practice."

On the effectiveness of Wayshawn Parker and NaQuari Rogers and if he sees them as a 1-2 punch…

I thought they both produced fairly well in the first game. I think we were 5.3 a carry. We wanted to be over five yards a carry as a team. That's the standard that we've had for a long time. Right now, they're on equal footing. Both those guys are starters and are interchangeable. There really isn't one that's ahead of the other. In a game, or as the season plays out, if one gets the hot hand and becomes more productive, then we'll lean that way and give that guy more carries, more time. But as of this moment, they're [No.] 1 and 1A. They're both doing a good job, both did a good job in the one game, and they blocked really well too. On the first play Smith had, Wayshawn really threw a nice block on the perimeter to free him up. That's something the receivers, I thought, did well all game long, and particularly the tight ends as well, is blocking. Everybody had the urgency to fit up on a block and wasn't just being a spectator. We had guys really actively blocking in the secondary and on the perimeter.

On coach Ron McBride's impact on the football program and impact on him personally…

Coach [McBride] was responsible for the resurgence of Utah football. [He] did a phenomenal job recruiting, got really good players into the program, masterful recruiter. If you say what is Coach Mac's strength, it was recruiting and in college, that's the most important aspect of your job, so you can say he was the best at what was the most important. He had a great rapport with his players, players loved him. [He was a] passionate coach, loves the game, still coaches to this day. I believe he's still working with kids in the community and helping out where he can, so he's continuing to be effective, but he really put Utah football back on the map. For me personally, he gave me my first opportunity in Division I football. I'm forever grateful for that. I got my start here at Utah, came from right up the road at Idaho State, a 1-AA program, and he was instrumental in my path, my coaching path. He's very deserving of his ring of honor induction that he's going to be getting this week. He's meant so much to the community, not just to Utah football and the university, but he's so active in the community and he's a guy that is constantly giving and has done that all his life. [We're] eternally grateful for him and what he did for me.

On the performance of Elijah Davis and Blake Cotton and the secondary…

Really good. I think they held up well, no balls over our head. We dodged a bullet or two. There were some guys open up the field and they missed the throw, but I thought for a first game, those guys did a nice job, especially Blake Cotton. He's a good tackler and he doesn't turn things down. Sometimes you get DBs who are a little reluctant to go up and mix it up, but he demonstrated some physicality, did some good things in coverage. Of course, Smith Snowden is a premier cover guy and [Davis] played a lot of football for us last year, and I thought those guys did a nice job. Jackson Bennee did a really good job in the nickel. That's actually the toughest assignment, the slot corner. He has the most on his plate. He's also responsible for run-game fits and blitzing off the edge on occasion. I thought Jackson did a really nice job as well.

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Players Mentioned

Lander Barton

Jackson Bennee

JJ Buchanan

Blake Cotton

Elijah Davis

Wayshawn Parker

NaQuari Rogers

Smith Snowden